Last update - 00:00 14/03/2007
Analysis: PM, Peretz and Halutz are three men in the same boat
By Ze'ev Schiff, Haaretz Correspondent
The short announcement to the press, and through them to the public, issued on Tuesday by the Winograd Committee, does not portend well for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and former chief of staff Dan Halutz. When there is mention of "individual conclusions" relating to them - and the names of all three appeared in the press release - it is hard to imagine that the prime minister will be applauded for his management of the war while the other two will suffer criticism. One can only conclude that all three are in the same boat as far as the examining committee is concerned. Even if they are not called upon to resign , publicly they will be perceived as responsible for the big errors.
Those who have already been severely reprimanded by the committee are the Israeli media, for publishing rumors that verged on speculation, without first checking their facts; making guesses bordering on fabrication; and essentially diverting public attention.
A positive signal emerging is that the report will be a great deal more extensive than anticipated. Even the interim report will be extensive, and for this reason its release will be postponed to the second half of April. It is clear that the examination committee will deal with a broad range of subjects. From only a peek at the list one can conclude that it would be impossible for the committee's members to hold deliberations on such an important, extensive and varied array of subjects, and still please the politicians who appointed them. The concerns and the criticism directed against the appointment of the committee focused on the claim that it was unacceptable that they should be appointed by the potential objects of their investigations. Even before the committee began its work, there were many who demanded its resignation.
From the committee's announcement, it is possible to conclude that the report will take in the issue of the home front, which was examined by the State Comptroller as well, who has already prepared an extensive report of nearly on thousand pages. The report covers the period beginning in 2000, the year the IDF pulled out from southern Lebanon, a year in which three IDF soldiers were abducted by the Hezbollah and died, either in battle or in captivity, a year in which the Iranians began setting up in Lebanon on behalf of Hezbollah an arsenal comprising thousands of Katyusha rockets. The report will deal as well with the preparedness of the IDF, the management of the broad campaign and how it was arrived at, the force deployment and also a look to the future with recommendations for improvement. There will even be reference to, in the language of the announcement, "the general ethos of Israeli society," as well as to strategic concepts. These are very great promises on the part of the committee. Moreover, it was said that they will deal with "subjects of supreme importance." The committee has signed an important promissory note, whose implementation will require some very basic work for many weeks following the publication of its partial report.